The scene opens with Friender scratching something on the ground. In a brief, action-packed flashback, it is revealed that Casshern has yet again found himself the target of aggression from robot bandits. After saving Friender from possible harm, Casshern ends up entombed under a huge, glass-like rock boulder. Friender is now trying to extricate him out of there.

Not far away, a small group of robots and humans are traveling together through a sandstorm. They take shelter inside a cave, where Friender is currently hiding. The band's leader, Jin, is a robot who, however, does not appear to be affected by the ruin. He manages to gain Friender's trust by not attacking even though they have the latter surrounded. Later, a band of robot bandits happen to pass by and Jin's group is discovered when a child in their company cries out. Upon seeing Jin, the bandits identify him as the one robot who did not join Braiking Boss' army and continued to protect humans. Jin and his friends prepare themselves for the inevitable assault only to have Friender dart out of the cave and attack the bandits first. The bandits, of course, recognize it as Casshern's companion but decide not to fight back.

After the bandits are gone, a human child in Jin's group point out that Gido, a robot in the advanced stage of ruin, is gone. They later find him through the help of Friender, who leads them to where Casshern is buried under the boulder. Gido appears then, with bandit robots right behind him. Apparently, Gido has it in his mind to kill Casshern and eat his body so that he could be fixed. At that moment, Casshern emerges from the boulder and he is super-pissed. He makes short work of the bandits and then goes after Jin.

Jin tries to explain that he is not Casshern's enemy but the latter takes no heed. Finally, Friender steps in and pushes Casshern to the ground. This causes Casshern to wake up from his berserk mode and realize that Jin really means him no harm. However, upon seeing Casshern with their own eyes and knowing the rumors about him, the people in Jin's group have other ideas in mind. They want Jin to kill Casshern for them, saying that this is much better than searching for Luna, who may not even be real. After a long hesitation, Jin answers with an emphatic "no." Instead, he says that if the rumors about Casshern turned out to be true, then it is entirely possible that the rumors about Luna is also true.

Hearing this, Jin's friend realize that the reason that Jin has not succumbed to ruin is because of his convictions. They also note that Friender is the same way in showing devotion to its master. A regretful Gido then apologizes to his group but the human child assures him that when he grows up, he will fix Gido for sure. In the end, Jin does not ask Casshern to travel with his group, saying that if he did, there might be a day when he would want to kill him.

COMMENTS:

For a moment there, I did not recognize him. Which is strange because the fur jacket should have been a dead give-away. Oh, well.

So this was another good episode. Good for mood and characterization, I mean, but as for entertainment, I don't think I enjoyed it very much. Hah, if I have to think about whether I enjoyed it or not, then it really means it wasn't enjoyable in the first place.

But don't get me wrong. The explosive, action-packed opening scene really got to me and the brief fight scene between Jin and Casshern was pretty good. You gotta love this series for its economic use of action scenes. Just at the right moment, just at the right level of intensity.

Now, about Jin. What an interesting character. You know, in the live-action movie, he is kind of a villain and, being a neo-human, he is a human-hater as well. But here, he's a hero, and my kind of hero, too. No angst, just pure conviction and leadership.

BTW, the insert song in this episode is awesome. It's sang by a guy but it has such a nice melody that I don't mind (I don't like the voices of male Japanese singers in general).